One poem turned repeated cups into a journey from the body toward imagination.
Image source: Wikimedia Commons / Art Institute of Chicago – Tang Yin
Who was Lu Tong?
Lu Tong was a Tang-dynasty poet who lived in the early ninth century. A famous section of his "Song of Tea" describes the experience of drinking bowl after bowl, each creating a new physical or imaginative effect.
The passage is often called the "Seven Bowls of Tea." It became one of the most recognisable pieces of tea poetry and later appeared on cups, paintings and calligraphy across East Asia.
Image source: HOUTU TEA public image library
Poetry, not a dosage instruction
Lu Tong's seven bowls should be read as literary imagery, not a recommendation to consume a fixed quantity or a historical medical protocol. The poem exaggerates and transforms sensation in order to express delight and spiritual freedom.
Why the story matters
A product becomes memorable when people can describe how it feels. Lu Tong gave tea drinkers a vocabulary of progression long before modern tasting notes and marketing copy.
